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Eduardo asked in PetsReptiles · 7 years ago

Should I return my African Dwarf Frogs?

I currently have 2 African Dwarf Frogs. While researching them, I found they may carry Salmonella! I am a 14 Year Old and I do everything asscosiated in caring for the frogs, feed them, change water,etc. I am scared because I have a baby sister who is 5 months old. And a little sister who is 6 years. The tank (5G, has 2 frogs) is on a stand in the living room. Should I return them or should it be safe if I wash my hands with soap really good, and I am the only one to touch the tank. On the stand, it has some extra space so we also keep keys there, so I am worried that one day while I am cleaning the tank, some water drips on the keys or sun glasses and makes my family members ill. I am worried because my grandma just got Salmonella from dining outdoors. And she is really sick so what if that happens to us. I will definatley return them if they are a risk. I just bought them for PetCo yesterday (Sunday). Please Help!!!

3 Answers

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  • ?
    Lv 7
    7 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Exercise reasonable caution, and you (and they) should be fine. I believe all reptiles and amphibians have salmonella, it's one of their gut bacteria, like all mammals have E. coli. But, as long as you keep everything adequately clean, it shouldn't be a problem.

    Since you do have a kid sister in the stick-everything-in-her-mouth age range, I'd suggest that you take special care to make sure there's nothing portable that you can drip water on when you're changing the water in the tank. Temporarily move any keys, etc to the table or something when you're changing your frogs' water. And, of course, wash your hands after handling them or putting your hands in their water or the like.

    But, the salmonella concentration in the water will be pretty small (at least, if you keep it properly cleaned and filtered), so the chances of your sister getting enough of the bacteria to actually make her sick are pretty small, unless she actually, say, sticks her hands in the tank, then directly into her mouth, or something. Which is unlikely. Make sure the older one knows to wash her hands after doing *anything* with the frogs, if she ever does so, both by example (always wash your hands after handling them) and by telling her directly.

    But, really, don't worry about it too much. Especially since... as long as your family is healthy, they're very unlikely to get very sick even if they do somehow get salmonella, it's a very minor risk to anyone with a decent immune system. Older people... often have at least somewhat compromised immune systems, so that's why it was such a problem for your grandmother, probably.

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  • 7 years ago

    As ingrid said, it's nothing to worry about. Not only do many people own frogs, but all reptiles can carry salmonella and think about how many people own reptiles!!

    As long as you wash your hands after handling them, you'll be fine :)

  • Anonymous
    7 years ago

    I wouldn't worry about it. Thousands of people own them, there are very few reported cases of salmonella

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